Some time in my first few years of taxi driving, when I was working at the Dover Garage I randomly picked up a young female passenger who was flirtatious towards me.
I was around 38 years old, still had a youthful face and I weighed quite a bit less than I do now. She resisted leaving the taxi once we were at her destination. She told me that she wanted me to give her a call and agreed to leave the taxi after I took her phone number. She went on her way. I crumpled up the piece of paper that had her number on it and tossed it into a garbage can.
One morning a few weeks later I was awakened by my furious wife and tearful daughter. Guess who was on the phone?
Not that my home life was peachy creamy at the time but I had not reached a point where I was seeking a relationship outside my unhappy marriage. I had merely taken this person's number in order to get her out of my taxi and I expected never to see her again.
It was the Taxi and Limousine Commission that had given this woman my telephone number (and address). This was policy back then. A taxi driver's address and phone number was public information.
I just found out a few days ago that this policy apparently is no longer in effect. The TLC has rejected my Freedom of Information request for Gabriel Diaz' contact information.
He' s the Dominican American taxi driver of African ancestry who describes himself as a National Socialist and whose taxi driver license they had suspended for thirty days because he wore a swastika arm band to work one day.
I'd like to interview this guy.
